Severino moved up by Yankees, to face Twins on Wednesday

NEW YORK — Luis Severino was moved up two days by the New York Yankees and is scheduled to start Wednesday against Minnesota.

Yankees manager Joe Girardi said Tuesday the move was made to give Severino three more regular-season starts as New York tries to overtake Boston in the AL East.

Severino had been slated to start Friday at Toronto and will be replaced against the Blue Jays by Masahiro Tanaka.

A 23-year-old right-hander, Severino is 13-6 with a 2.93 ERA in 29 starts this season, and has not allowed more than one earned run in nine of 12 outings since the All-Star break.

"Our goal is still to win the division. We've clinched nothing at this point," Girardi said. "We still have a lot of work to do in front of us so it gives us the ability to start him three more times."

Severino will be pitching on regular four days' rest.

"If I had to choose, I'd choose tomorrow," Severino said. "I like to pitch on five days. When I rest a lot my arm feels very good, so I can't control my fastball. I feel better with five days."

Severino has never faced the Twins, a potential opponent in the AL wild-card game.

"I can see their weakness and I can face all their hitters and see what I can do with their lineup," he said. "When I face them tomorrow, we'll see what happens so I can have a plan if we go to the wild card game."